


Cake? in this dire time?

by TessiePessie



Category: Anastasia (1997), Anastasia - Flaherty/Ahrens/McNally
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anya a bridesmaid, Dmitry is not happy, Dmitry is the best man, F/M, Tumblr Prompt, Vlad and Lily are getting married, Vlad ended up crying, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-28 02:15:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14439321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TessiePessie/pseuds/TessiePessie
Summary: When Vlad came into Dmitry’s apartament at nine in the morning, the young man knew that something was out of place.“Lily and I… we’re going to get married.”“You’re what?! Don’t you think that maybe you’re too old for this shit?”“You are never too old for love, son."The following days were calm. Maybe the idea of marriage was not so terrible, until he find Anastasia again.





	Cake? in this dire time?

**Author's Note:**

> This story is dedicated to Taylor (so kind, always reading my fics and leaving nice comments ) and to @WritingToKeepMySanity who do the beta to this chapter (If you love Newsies, go to read her fics!!!! )
> 
> Also, there is a reference to a popular musical dialogue, tell me if you caught it *wink, wink*.

When Vlad came into Dmitry’s apartament at nine in the morning, the young man knew that something was out of place. He hadn’t even had his first cup of coffee, and was not ready for whatever news Vlad was going to pop up with.

“I’m starting to regret giving you my spare key.”  
“Yeah, well, I pay half the rent, so you owe me that spare key.”

Truth be told, the only reason that jobless Dmitry could have this nice big apartament in the big city was because his ex-foster dad had a heart of gold, and kept taking care of him. Besides, he knew that bringing that subject up was the perfect trick to soften him up for the next piece of information that he was going to share.

“Lily and I… we’re going to get married.”  
“You’re what?!”

Nothing against charming Lily. Dmitry shouldn’t have choked with his coffee, but getting _married?_ Do people still do that? Why? Dmitry thought it was something crazy people do in Las Vegas when they’re too drunk in their twenties, and then get an awkward divorce. And now, Vlad was saying that he was _going to get married_. The man lost his mind, it couldn’t be possible. Yes, he and Lily had been dating for ages, even before the boy appeared in his life, why marry now?

“Don’t you think that maybe you’re too old for this shit?”  
“You are never too old for love, son. The important thing here is…”  
“What? Is there more info here? Is she pregnant?” Vlad looked so serious that Dmitry started to feel a lump in his throat. “That doesn’t make any sense… she’s too old. Did she tell you that? Because, Vlad, there’s a thing called meno—”  
“Shut the fuck up, Dmitry. I was just going to ask you to be my best man, but I’m not so sure now.”

_Well, this is awkward_. They spent the next ten minutes in perfect silence. Dmitry finished his cup of coffee. He and Vlad were close, but not when it came to the so-called _feelings_. It worked perfectly for the both of them. Now, he was afraid that Vlad would maybe get too emotional and start crying or doing something silly. _This is going to be a disaster_. And it was not even the big day yet.

“What do I have to do?” he sighed. However, on the bright side, this could be fun.  
“You have to help me prepare everything for the wedding. You have to give the best man speech, and most importantly, I have to be there.” he looks seriously to him “Otherwise, there’s no wedding, so you have to take care of that.”  
“Okay, I could do that. Do I have to wear a tuxedo?”  
“Yes, and a new one. Not that old thing in your wardrobe. Don’t worry, Lily will take care of that.”

It turned out that the next few months weren’t as awful as Dmitry had thought. Lily and Vlad seemed to be more in love than ever. His best man duties kept him busy. They distracted him from the bugs in his head that told him that he was a failure as a man because he was jobless and lonely. Plus, he had a new tuxedo that looked great on him.

Vlad asked him for help in choosing the wedding cake. Lily was going to be there too, along with one of her bridesmaid. Apparently, the cake was a big deal that required four people involved. So there he was, being the _best_ best man ever, ready to eat as much frosting as he could. Maybe he could get married someday, although he still didn’t get the reason why people did it, but, hey! There’s a free cake degustation.

When he went into the bakery, the smell of sugar distracted him from the presence of the pretty blonde standing next to Lily. It was a pretty sunny day, warm breeze, birds singing. He had gotten up early and was not late. The coffee was great, and he didn't even have to kick out last night’s guest. It was the perfect day. And there she was, looking so fucking perfect that it made him mad. It felt unfair. It was too late to get out, because she was looking at him, and she was smiling.

Anastasia Romanova was his archenemy since he was twelve years old, when Vlad took him from the orphanage. He gave him a nice home with people who took care of him, people who did not beat the shit out of him. Along came Lily and his goddaughter, Anastasia (or Anya, for short), and for someone who has just ten, Anya was the devil herself. Every time she came to visit, Dmitry had to hide in the basement, but she would find him and make him play some silly game until she got bored. She’d plan awful pranks that would end with Dmitry crying.

He wasn’t proud of his old self.

By their teenage years, she became more ladylike and less devil-like. But still, she was ready to fight at any chance. Sadly, for Dmitry, she was smart, so she would usually win. This would bring more fights, until Vlad would intervene and make them apologize. When she finished high school, she went to live with her grandmother to Paris. There, she started college at the Sorbonne, and lost contact with her childhood friends (not like he wanted to keep in touch, _but it would be nice to know about her_ ) and, apparently, the princess was back in the city.

The Paris lifestyle suited her. She didn't look as pale, and she was glowing. _That was not possible_. She didn't seem to be planning to kick his ass either, and her smile was a genuine one. He was pretty sure that he never saw her smile without him ending up on the ground.

“Looks like you saw a ghost, Dima.”  
“What the hell are you doing here?”  
“Charming as always. I’m Lily’s bridesmaid, so I came to help.”

Dmitry, still perplexed, looked at her like this whole situation was either a big joke, or a miracle that he couldn’t figure out. Yes, he was happy that she was back for Lily and Vlad’s wedding, but a little warning would have been welcome.

“And now that you’re here,” Vlad’s voice came from behind him. “Anya and you are going to choose the wedding cake, while Lily and I go choose the menu for the reception. Have a fun day, kid.”

Anastasia did most of the talking. She talked about Paris and how much she loved the city, how the Sorbonne was a strict school but she was doing well, not perfect but she would live. Apparently, she had a lot of friends there. It took her a month to speak the language flawlessly, and she had studied it her whole life. Paris was the perfect place to live because, in her own words _“nothing can be wrong in the city of lights”_. She also told him what a surprise it was when Lily told her that she proposed to Vlad, which was new information to Dmitry, because the old man told him that it was his idea. But, he knew Lily well, so he was pretty sure that Anya was right. She had more character in one pinky finger than Vlad in his whole body.

“So… do you want cake?” Anastasia’s hand held a fork with a piece of food in front of his face, looking at him very gently.  
“Cake? _In this dire time?_ Yeah, sure, why not? We’ll all die anyway.”  
“Excuse me?”  
“Lily and Vlad are getting married, that’s crazy. You’re probably going to stab me with that fork, and you and me, together, choosing the cake? This bakery is going to be on fire in about an hour.”  
“You are being a bit too dramatic. I’m not going to stab you. We are friends.”  
“We are not even friendly, Anya.”  
“Rude, but okay. We can start now, do it for Lily and Vlad. This wedding has to be epic. Now, help me with the cake.”

And help with the cake he did.

Actually, choosing a cake was problematic. Too many option and at a certain point, every one of them tasted the same. In the end, it was Anastasia who chose the cake, because Dmitry, by the fifth option, was acting like a tired child who was shopping with their mom (and ‘childish’ was how Anya called him).

Spending the afternoon with Anya wasn’t as awful as he’d feared. They laughed a lot together, and he could almost forget that this was the same girl who terrorized him in his childhood. They ended up in a coffee shop near the bakery, and when it got late, Dmitry walked her home.

At night, when he was getting ready to get to bed, a text captured his attention _“so…I thought that texting you would be a good idea, so the next days we can share experiences about the couple soon-to-be husband and wife”_. He fell asleep with the phone in his hand and a smile in his face.

The few days before the wedding were a complete nightmare. Against all odds, Vlad became impossible to deal with. Nothing was perfect enough. The tailor, in Vlad’s words, made a _“bufon of his tuxedo”_ and was probably not going to be ready for the day before the ceremony. They made about a trip per day to the place where the reception would be held, to watch how the people worked and to be sure that no one would do something stupid, like change the silverware or the color of the flowers.

Vlad was freaking out, and Dmitry was very jealous of Anastasia, because Lily was as calm as a glass of water. She took every imperfection with a laugh, and told Vlad to not worry, things would get fixed and tadá, she left with Anya behind her, hiding a smile.

“Vlad, you need to chill, man. This wedding is going to kill you.”  
“I know. I’m getting emotional.”  
“Then relax, everything is going to be ok.”  
“I’m going to take a deep breath and I’m going to go to my happy place. Where there’s people who listen to my orders and… Look at those tablecloths Dmitry, they are orange! not red! This is a disaster.”

Vlad didn’t chill. Actually, he became more insufferable everyday.

When the wedding day came, Dmitry was pretty sure that he was more anxious than Vlad himself. He spent the night at Vlad’s, so neither of them would be late for the big day. Besides, he could keep an eye on the man who drank a whole bottle of vodka the night before (maybe Dmitry stole a couple of sips too).

At the church, he bit his nails so much that his fingers started bleeding, and Anya gave him a furious look. She slapped his hand, murmuring something like _“keep it together, Sudayev”_.

The kiss was gross to look at, but it was normal for them, and Dmitry wasn’t even surprised about the public demonstration of affection. Then, the reception started.

On Dmitry’s opinion, this was the best part of everything. An open bar, loud music and plenty of food. His duties ended when he gave his speech. With a bit of luck, Vlad would end up crying, and with the amount of cellphones there, someone would take a picture or film a video of him, and he would have something to blackmail him with in the future.

He was having a couple of drinks when he saw Anya talking to a man who looked too serious to be in a wedding. Like, really who wears a military uniform to a wedding? he doesn’t have a normal suit? what a pretentious man. He probably thought that any woman here would fall at his feet because he looks so great in his uniform, with his tall posture and pretty face, _why is Anya talking to him?_ She looked radiant and confident in her blue dress and high heels. At least, she waved at him when she saw him, and he raised his glass as a friendly greeting.

When he approached Lily and Vlad, the man looked at him seriously.

“Hey, who’s Anya talking to?”  
“Some dude? I’ve never seen him before.”  
“That’s her ex boyfriend, I honestly don’t know who invited him.” Lily’s words sounded pitiful, and Dmitry didn’t know why.  
“Ex boyfriend? That’s messed up, she’s trying to make you jealous.”  
“Jealous? I ain’t jealous! “

Of course he wasn’t jealous, how could he be? But looking at Anya, who now looked uncomfortable around her ex boyfriend, he thought he should maybe do something about it.

They were friends by now. Since that day at the bakery, they talked to each other every day and, to be honest, he was going to be sad when she had to leave to finish college, but she told him that when she finished her studies, she was going to come back. Dmitry could live with video calls until they saw each other again, and in the name of their newfound friendship, he drank his third glass of vodka and walked up straight to her, trying to look serious.

He just grabbed her hand, which, in retrospective, wasn't the most polite move. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

“What are you doing?”  
“Sometimes you just gotta dance.” And even though Dmitry had two left feet, they spent the entire reception together.

In the end, Vlad cried during Dmitry’s speech.

When it was time to sit down and think about what he was going to say in the important day, Dmitry came to the only conclusion that he would have to open his heart and say all the things he took for granted in years.

So he talked about how, without Vlad, he would probably be in the streets by now, or he could be a thief or something worse. He gave him an education, a home and love, and those are things that he will be always grateful for. He also talked about how he doesn’t remember his father, but Vlad did an exemplary job with him, helping him with his homework and telling him bedtime stories. And, for Lily, she was the closest maternal figure in his live even when she was always messing with his hair, telling him to cut it, and he was pretty sure that Vlad paid her to be with him but he was not going to judge her.

He made Anya record the whole thing so he could watch the olds man’s every reaction later. He held Anya’s hand when Vlad and Lily had their first dance as a married couple, and they may or may not have shared a kiss (or more than one) in some dark corner when the alcohol ran out and everyone was leaving.

When Anastasia left for Paris, she promised him that when she came back, they were going to have a long sober talk. And honestly, he couldn’t wait for it.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr as TessiePessie or Anotherdayblue, and we can talk about how Dmitry is a beauty dork. Si hablas español, con mayor razón ven. Te recibiré con los brazos abiertos y seremos feliz siendo hispanohablantes :D  
> Also, feedback is REALLY important to me, so leave a comment down below!


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